35 pipe bombs found after explosions, police allege

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CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio — About 35 pipe bombs, an assortment of firearms, hundreds of rounds of ammunition were found in a former doctor's apartment following two loud explosions, police said Wednesday.

Authorities, who found the arsenal Monday night, said they don't know why he had the weapons or whether he planned to use them.

Mark Campano, 56, was charged Wednesday with one count of unlawful possession of a pipe bomb, according to assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Edwards. Campano appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Benita Pearson, waived a preliminary hearing and was held on the charge by federal marshals.

The charge carries a possible penalty of 10 years in prison, Edwards said.

Donald Hicks, the attorney appointed to represent Campano, said after the court hearing that it was too early to comment on the case.

Apartment complex shaken
The explosions that shook the apartment complex Monday night "sounded like someone hit the window as hard as you could once and it reverberated throughout the building," said Rob Clancy, 27, who lives upstairs and two doors down from the blast scene. "It happened twice about 35 seconds apart."

Campano told an officer that he was attempting to load shotgun shells when one blew up in his hands, according to a police report. He was taken to an Akron hospital with severe injuries to his left hand and arm and taken into custody after he was released from the hospital Wednesday.

Handguns were strewn about the apartment, police said, and one gun had a silencer and a pistol was found in Campano's car, the police report said. A large amount of elements used to make various types of weaponry were also taken from the apartment, according to the report.

Police also found chemicals used to make drugs in the apartment, Sgt. Gary Merton Jr. said.

Lost his license
Citing a history of drug dependency, the Medical Board of Ohio removed Campano's license in 2006. The board said in its decision that his continued practice of medicine would be a danger of immediate and serious harm to the public.

Campano has a history of substance abuse dating to 1987, according to state medical board records.

He completed a drug treatment program in the late 1980s, records showed. He moved to West Virginia and practiced medicine there until he gave up his license in 1993 when he had a relapse involving drugs and alcohol.

Campano sought treatment again and was diagnosed with major depression, alcohol dependency, and drug abuse, records show.

He returned to Ohio and was allowed to practice medicine in 1995 under probationary terms that included random drug tests. He also was required to continue meeting with a psychiatrist.

Campano sought treatment for chemical dependence in 2005 and admitted that he had been self-prescribing a high blood pressure medicine for six years, according to state medical records. The medical board then moved to permanently revoke his license.

The apartment complex, with about 30 units, was evacuated.

Robert Cogdeill, 45, who's lived all his life in a home across the street, said the apartment complex attracts a lot of police attention.